How does this competition benefit filmmaking in Seattle?

With all the timed film events out there, just how exactly does the 48 Hour Film Project benefit the filmmaking community in Seattle?

It’s a good question. The average size of a 48 Hour team is 15 people. The last two years in Seattle we have had 42 teams. Not nearly enough in my opinion, but I’m a Douglas Adams fan, so the number makes me happy. Anyway! This means that the last 2 years, in one weekend, we unleashed 630 filmmakers into the streets of Seattle. Professionals and amateurs alike. At the very least, we are providing some much needed visibility for the filmmaking scene here.

More importantly though, each of these teams needs lights, cameras, microphones, costumes, props, food, etc. Think about it for a second. 630 people all of whom need to eat. A rough budgeting estimate is $10 per person per meal and a typical crew is going to have 2 meals a day. That works out to $12,600 a day for 2 days for a total of $25,200! That’s no small chunk of change to be dumped into our local economy in a given weekend.

Often times, a crew is going to try and get their food for free by talking to restaurants and stores. They’ll get their food for free by offering credit in the film to their sponsor resulting in some very inexpensive advertising for said sponsor.

Have I talked about food enough yet? Probably not. It is simply impossible to underestimate the power of food to motivate a crew working for free on top of little to no sleep! If you own or manage a restaurant or store in the greater Seattle region and are interested in helping out the teams get their films done, please come to our meet ‘n greet this Friday, May 22, 7:30pm at Solo Bar on Queen Anne or email me (seattle@48hourfilm.com) with ways to get in touch with participating teams.

Alright, enough about food! Let’s get back to these 630 filmmakers. If Steven Spielberg wanted to make a 48 Hour Film, he would be allowed to do so, providing he didn’t pay anyone on his cast or crew. He could even use his favorite actors because of our relationship with the Screen Actors Guild! Now, Mr. Spielberg will probably never do one of these competitions, let alone do one in Seattle of all places, but he could! Were he to compete, he would have all the benefits our local filmmakers could only dream of. High end cameras. Name talent. A top notch post production and production crew. The list goes on.

Our teams do not have this benefit, so they rely on the availability of gear and crew locally. This is important because many of the people entering are making either their first stab at making a film or are relative newcomers to the scene. This competition allows them to make connections with other filmmakers of similar experience level and interests. As their network and ambitions grow, the technical needs of their projects do as well.

In order to meet the needs of these growing ambitions, the filmmakers must become familiar with local vendors like Victory Studios, Modern Digital, AlphaCine, Oppenheimer Cine, Bad Animals, Pacific Grip and Light, Seattle Grip and Light and more. By renting with these companies, the filmmakers are helping to build and expand the infrastructure for filmmaking in Seattle. So the more teams we have competing, the more likely they will need to rent gear and use post production services in the future.

Not only do the filmmakers help build and grow our filmmaking infrastructure, they also help raise awareness of the enormous amount of untapped talent in the Seattle filmmaking community. Many of the top films from each year’s contest result in a fair amount of work for the competitors. Just ask the team Milk who won Best of Seattle 2006. Everybody in town wants to work with them now… and rightly so. Not only did they win best of Seattle 2006, but they were runner up for Best 48 Hour Film of 2006!

Team Juicebox, Best of Seattle 2007, was invited to participate in an HD Shootout competition comprised of 4 other Best in City teams. They won the shootout and their film was taken to the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. How’s that for some Northern Exposure?

So, the talent is here. They just need a little help getting going. It takes money and moral support for them to make it all happen. Their entry in the 48 Hour Film Project is just an initial step. Once they are established, they will inject money into our economy through the purchase of goods and services and provide us with some much needed publicity about the talent pool of filmmakers in Seattle.